Relationship Between Marital Satisfaction With Maternalinfant Attachment and Breastfeeding Self-efficacy in Primiparous and Multiparous Nursing Mothers

Parental attachment is effective on parents’ feelings of commitment toward infant care and increases maternal efficiency. Given that the parity is considered as the main factor and moderator of the mother-infant interaction, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between marital satisfaction with mother-infant attachment and breastfeeding self-efficacy and its comparison in primiparous and multiparous women.

This descriptive-correlational study was carried out using a random sampling method. A total of 420 mothers having 4-6 months children were randomly selected from health centers in Ahvaz and enrolled in the study. The required data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, ENRICH marital satisfaction scale, Müller’s mother-infant attachment inventory, and Denis’s breastfeeding self-efficacy questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS, version 20.

The findings revealed that the mean scores of marital satisfaction, mother-infant attachment, and breastfeeding self-efficacy was 136.57±19.76, 100.82±4.604, and 13.148±135.75 in primiparous women and the values of the same variables were 127.65±18.67, 9±95.31, and 138.66±13.889 in multiparous women, respectively. In addition, the Pearson correlation test showed that marital satisfaction was significantly correlated with mother-infant attachment in two groups of primiparous and multiparous mothers, as well as breastfeeding self-efficacy in multiparous mothers (P < 0.05).

In general, multiparous mothers are often neglected since most of the training and counseling services provided during the perinatal period focus on new mothers. Thus, this research supports the need for educating and informing parents regarding the importance of spousal support and its effect on improving family functions.